07 August 2011

The hundreds of attendees gathered in a pair of churches here Saturday may have been watching The Response via simulcast, but they were by no means spectators.
                            Photo By Raymond Billy/ResonateNews.comBy Raymond Billy | ResonateNews.com

SMITH COUNTY, Texas — The hundreds of attendees gathered in a pair of churches here Saturday may have been watching The Response via simulcast, but they were by no means spectators. The event — a call to prayer and fasting initiated by Texas Gov. Rick Perry — was shown at East Texas' largest church, Green Acres Baptist in Tyler, and at Community Christian Fellowship in Lindale, a decidedly smaller, yet highly influential congregation.

Dozens of people stood inside the Green Acres Crosswalk Conference Center, swaying with the music emanating from a large-screen television there. Some stood with arms raised, others with heads bowed. One attendee took a kneeling posture, her torso and face bent to the ground and hands extended across the floor, as prayers were orated.

Terry Bass, 59, said she was pleased by the emphasis of the event.

“It's God-focused, it's not man-focused. I really like the fact that they're not introducing anybody. The attention is not drawn to any person. I don't even know who this band is,” said Bass, referring to the team of worship-music leaders in Houston. “But all of the focus is on the Lord. So, that's what's standing out to me."

Perry billed the event — a Christ-centered prayer gathering — as an appropriate response to the challenges that confront the United States. Drought conditions across the Southwest continue to beset farmers. Tornados devastated parts of the South and Midwest this past spring. Unemployment continues to hover north of 9 percent. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the nation's debt rating for the first time Friday after Congress failed to take more drastic measures to balance the U.S. budget. And, the nation's Military continues to fight wars on multiple fronts.

But, some have speculated Perry's involvement with The Response is geared toward reaching out to evangelical Christian voters — rather than God — who could prove decisive should he choose to run for president. Bass said that level of cynicism is unfounded.

“The Lord can raise up the heart of a king. The Lord used a man who happened to be in politics. But he also happens to be a Christian and obviously he's a man of faith, or he wouldn't be doing this and he's taken a lot of flack for it,” said Bass, a member of Crossroads Community Church in Lindale, where she resides.

Over at Community Christian Fellowship, Katheryn Shepard, 19, said she was undaunted by talk of Perry's alleged ulterior motives for The Response.

“I heard all of the talk. I decided 'God, this is to glorify you. I want to be a part of lifting up your name,” said Shepard, an intern at Teen Mania Ministries in nearby Garden Valley.

Indeed, much of the event took on the tone of a worship service that can be witnessed at churches across the nation on any given Sunday. As The Response drew to a close, simulcast attendees at CCF were energized. Several jumped up and down with the music. Others danced and cheered, including Shepard, who was present for virtually the entire simulcast.

Michelle Willman, a teacher's aide in Lindale, said Perry's assessment of what will get the U.S. back on track is accurate.

“Our nation is broken. The only way to heal it is through Jesus,” said Willman, standing outside of the worship sanctuary of CCF.

Tyler resident Milton Jones, 80, said shortly before leaving Green Acres' simulcast that his personal experience could serve as a microcosm of a national turnaround.

“Really, you don't get serious about things of the Lord usually until you have some kind of crisis and if you make it through that crisis it changes your entire perspective of life,” said Jones, a member of Green Acres. “Just as he did Paul, God gave me an illness about five years ago. I thought it was the end, but he still had something left for me to do.”

Sedrick Moore, a pastor at St. Paul Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Texas, said he was pleased with The Response's focus on Christian repentance. He said better days will be ahead for the U.S. if Christians begin to devote themselves to their faith.

“We're waiting for the world to turn to God, but God is waiting for the church to turn back to him,” said the 43-year-old Moore. “I believe that's true repentance and we'll see change in America when the church gets back right with the Lord.”

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